Last Sunday I noticed that there was half a bag of Ghiardelli bittersweet chocolate chips leftover from my mega-intense BC brownies and feeling a bit fried by my mega-workload decided to make the recipe for chocolate chip cookies on the side of the bag. I’d reproduce the recipe here, but that’s pretty unnecessary. Just go…

Yom Kippur is fast approaching (begins tomorrow night at sundown) and by fast approaching I mean Jews gots-ta be fasting. Saw a play tonight called “Last Easter” and there was a joke in it that I’d like to share with you now on that very topic.You see Ghandi, before he died, never wore shoes and…

Ladies and gentleman, it is my great honor and privilege to present this week’s guest judge and jury. She’s been featured in Gourmet magazine, the LA Times and Hugh Heffner’s effort at a food magazine, Playsoy. (Just kidding about the last one). She even has a book deal in the works. She’s truly the summit…

I walk past the Body Shop every day on my way to school. I have a question for you, ladies. Why do you want to smell like fruit?That’s what the Body Shop smells like to me. Hot fruit. Noxious, acidic fruit that clouds the air near NYU worse than the fog of Mary Kate and…

[We will now tackle several issues I’ve been meaning to write about for a while.]Deference fascinates me when it comes to food (as well as movies, TV, theater, literature, and trasngendered escorts). We live in the age of the blurb. “Better than Tofu!” “Wicked wasabi!” “Don’t miss the Vietnamese-Mexican dipping sauce!”People succumb to these stamps…

Alas and alack, the time has come again to vote off another contestant on Gourmet Survivor. My apologies, no video this time out. Instead, though, we get to see who voted who off our kitchen island. Which is way more juicy…

As the title says, Harry gets immunity this round so he may not be voted off. Contestants, please e-mail me who you want to vote off by 11 pm tomorrow. In a little twist (to make things interesting) I am going to publish who you voted for in tomorrow night’s post. That way we can…

Ah, what a nice set of submissions from our seven remaining contestants. This week’s challenge was to showcase something specific to your locale; allowing for a virtual culinary trip around the world, no baggage necessary. Readers, you’re the judge this week: vote for who you think should get immunity in the comments below. And now,…

Tonight I reached a new milestone in my career as an Amateur Gourmet. In fact, I may have to change my site’s title to: The Slightly Better Than Amateur Gourmet. (Not as catchy, I’ll admit.)See, here’s the truth about many of the things I cook: the leftover ingredients sit in my fridge until they rot,…

One book that’s sat on my bookshelf for a while is The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen by Paula Wolfert.One reason for that is that by the time I decide to cook something, I don’t have time to make anything slow. Last night, however, even though it was 6 pm, I was willing to cook something slowish.…